hell. what made this big guy in bakersfield freak out on live tv? the forecast will make your morning. this is "way too early." >> good morning, everybody, i'm thomas roberts. welcome to "way too early." this is the show where nothing scares our weather man except unruly producers baby king cakes and gophers. all right. so we start out with our lead story today. after days of speculation, arizona govern oor jan brewer vo a bill. they touted the legislation as protectsing religious freedom for businesses and critics say it is more than legalizing denying services to same sex couples. thousands of petitionses from human rights activists and press releases from the largest korngss including american airlines, delta airlines, apple

and major league baseball. brewer's decision drew cheers from protesters in the capitol mshgs of whom have been gathering since the legislation was passed last week. she even sent thought photo of herself striking down that bill in defiance of the republican led legislate you are. when she addressed the media, she said there are more pressing issues at hand for the state. >> our immediate challenge is fixing a broken child protection system. instead, this is the first policy bill to cross my desk. senate bill 1062 does not address a specific or present concern related to religious liberty in arizona. i've not heard one example in arizona where business owners religious liberty has been violated. the bill has broadly worded and could result in unintended and negative consequences. after weighing all of the arguments, i have vetoed senate bill 1062 moments ago.

>> the center for arizona policy, a conservative group which offered that bill, called at tacks against the proposal absurd both of the state's u.s. senators john mccain and jeff flake who are republicans, publicly lobbied for the governor's veto and hailed her decision. nnchts texas, a u.s. district judge struck down the ban of same-sex marriage. the law has been on the books a decade. the judge found that it stigmatize gay couples and denies them equal protection. the plaintiffs were elated with this announcement. >> it's amazing how much a motion is all bound up in this. it's hard to get through that to actually make a statement. the biggest thing i think i would want to say is we did it. yea. it may be the first step. but it's an awesome first step. >> attorney general greg abbott who is also running for governor of texas said the statal pale immediately. the law remains in effect while being adjudicated. we turn our attention to the ukraine where there is new information about the whereabouts of its out offed president. just moments ago we learned

russian news organizations reporting that the president has been staying in moscow and asked for protection from extremists. he hasn't been seen since saturday. also overnight, armed men reportedly seized control of two government buildings in the region and raised the russian flag. it is in the southernmost part of ukraine off the coast of russia. heated clashes broke out there yesterday between protesters who want closer ties with europe and those who are still loyal to moscow. it was part of russia until the 1950s. there is increased tensions between the u.s. and russia after putin announced he was sending more than 150,000 troops near ukraine's boarder for military exercises. russiana denied the war games are related to the crisis in ukraine. but any involvement would be a grave mistake. >> it would be very difficult for me to understand how russia would reconcile its position on libya, its position on syria,

it's warnings against intervention and another country and then not respect the sovereignty of ukraine and the will of the people there. so we're hoping that russia will not see this as sort of a continuation of the cold war. we don't see it that way. we do not believe this should be an east-west, russia-united states. this is not "rocky iv," believe me. >> leaders picked an economic official to be ukraine's next prime minister. parliament is scheduled to vote on the appointment today. the pontiff told thousands of people he is very concerned about the violence in venezuela. pope frances said he hopes mutual forgiveness will help end the unrest there. more than a dozen people have been killed while protesting the president. jimmy carter hopes to meet with demonstrators and leaders from the government. tlnchts appears to be no end in

sight to the on going protests in thailand. the u.s. is urging restraint to both protesters and thailand's government. crackdowns against the demonstrators left more than 20 people dead since november. protesters have blocked parts of the capitol in an effort to get to the prime minister and have them resign. speaking of the prime minister, she is now facing negligence charges related to rice subsidies schemes. farmers were paid above market prices under the program which is now out of money. she can be impeached if found guilty. a new poll gives a snapshot of an american public unimpressed with the congress and president. when it comes to the mid terms, republicans are faring better than democrats. 42% say that they're more likely to choose the republican candidate where they live. the favorables for both parties are up side down. but most, 56%, are sour on the gop's long term prospect. you compare that to the democrats and 53% say they're mostly hopeful about the party's future. congress's approval remains extremely low. just 13%.

and the president as unpopular as well. more than half of all americans disapproving of his job in office. his approval numbers have literally flipped from roughly a year ago. the chairman of the house ways and means committee released his proposal to reform the nation's tax code. republican congressman dave camp's plan would be the first to complete overhaul since 1986. it tackles almost every aspect of the tax code. the seven individual brackets would be reduced to two and the top individual in corps rate would be cut to 25%. now it also calls for a 10% surtax on incomes above $450,000. the plan got far from a ringing endorse. . senate leaders called it dead on arrival and john boehner wouldn't commit to supporting it. he says it is the start of a needed conversation. all right, we turn our attention now to business news. small gains we watched yesterday after the up and down trading session as cross the market. in the u.s. today, investors are closely watching fed chair janet

yellen. cnbc's steve sedgwick is live with that. what do we expect from chair yellen? >> we have a taste of what to expect on the 11th of february in the first part of her semiannual testimony on capitol hill. this time she's going before the senate at 10:00 a.m. local time in the u.s. there. what is interesting is it was the weather that caused her to delay the second part of this address on capitol hill. it's the weather that i think people are looking a, whether the data we have in the u.s. so far this year sbt weather or if there is another slowdown. if it is the latter, it could mean something for the tapering process which is going on at the moment, tapering and rate rises which are pencilled in for some stage in 2015. so keep an eye on what she says f she blames the weather, that's okay. if she doesn't, then there could be some real concern that the fomc about the slowing u.s. data. elsewhere in corporate news, keep an eye on dealt yachlt interesting they're changing the frequent flyer program. it's not now how many miles you travel, it's about how much you

spend. and this is following what other airlines have done in the u.s. around about 4% of delta flyers actually have 25% of revenue their the ones that delta wants to recognize and reward going forward in 2015. >> absolutely. americans love their delta sky miles. that's for sure. so that will be a big come uppance for a lot of people who rely on those to cash in on those miles. steve this got our attention. boeing unveiling this spy phone. >> yeah. boeing making phones. it's not something manufacture would you say have associate with. but it's very james bond like. this is tamper proof. it incrypts phone calls as well. if you try break open the casing, apparently deleets all the data as well. this is very interesting. we heard from fcc filing that's it's going to be aimed at governments and government contractors and people who need to keep a lot of their conversations very private. we don't know much about the price. we don't know much about the networks. we don't know when it's going to be available as well. but it's obviously going to come at a very hefty price. very exciting new departure for

boeing who already started contacting potential customers for this phone. >> we're on a need to know base wlis it comes to this. thank you. good to see you. proposed changes by the fda and obama administration can change the way you think about your food. the nutrition label that's appear on the packaging will undergo a face lift. some of the important changes, emphasis on the calorie count. that line would appear bolder. also the serving sizes reflect what people actually eat, not what is recommended. and there is more focus on sugar, specifically added sugars which have contributed to high obesity rates in the u.s. the fda proposal would impact 700,000 products. the plan has been a pet project of the first lady and her staff who will rollout the changes during an event today at the white house. the grocery manufacturers association responded in a statement reading in part, "it is critical that any changes are based on the most current and reliable science, equally as important is ensuring that any changes ultimately serve to inform and not confuse

consumers." still ahead on "way too early," shaq may be retired but he's still a beast. and the "morning joe" personality who took the big man to the hole. we have the video to prove it. and also new video of the night justin bieber was arrested for dui. how he passed the time after the sobriety test. that and more when "way too early" comes back. we want to know where are you aawake. tweet you are us your most creative answers. we'll put the best ones up later on the show. >> kuwait is liberated. iraq's army is defeated. our military objectives are met. kuwait is once more in the hands of kuwaitis and in control of their own destiny. [ female announcer ] think all pads are the same? don't.

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okay. time now for sports. overtime thrillers to talk b college basketball. we start with the 16th ranked michigan visiting purdue. wolverines trailing 76-75 in the final seconds of overtime. take a look at what happens. >> robinson on the baseline and good! >> michigan's glen robinson iii banks in the game winner at the buzzer. the wolverines winning this 77-76. over to raleigh, 19 north carolina visiting nc state tar heels down by one with six seconds to play. marcus page takes the ball cross court, drives to the basket. hits the go ahead lay-up there. >> great defense. >> i >> the desperation shot, see it? no good. all right. tar heels get their tenth straight victory 85-84. over at the nba for something you probably never seen before. pistons and spurs last night. check out ginobili on defense.

he is behind number 21 on the spurs. you are watching this? he plants his left foot and busted right through his sneaker. yeah, he walks off with a shredded shoe. uninjured, he straps on a new sneaker and gets right back out there to play. >> defect. >> yeah. >> so earlier this week we introduced you to hank the dog, the milwaukee brewers unadopted mascot. he faced off with the brewers famous sausage racers. >> that's a dangerous race. >> yeah. >> the weiner costume and all, he continues to earn his place with the team. and look at. that they have him strapped down. he is weighted. poor little thing. look at hank with the mustard on his back and everything. all right. what do you do you bring in -- what do you -- what does that say? go back down. >> who do you bring in to defend 7 foot tall legend shaquille o'neal? >> i know. >> mike barnicle snows. none other than the godfather of this show, willie geist.

>> i always wanted to defend shaq. >> come on, willie. come on, willie. come on, willie. >> oh, ref. that's a foul, man. that's a foul. >> charge. >> that was a charge. >> oh, man. >> willie! show him, willie. show him. show big man. come on, willie. bring it. >> that was, good right? >> that was the high lilight ofs life. >> this is good stuff. >> at 6'4" and with his hair, 6'5," willie shows off his skills. the one-on-one matchup now. how many people can say they scored on shaq? it's a good thing, i think tamron was about to take her heels and earrings off for fouling willie. >> you know what is most amazing about that?

willie looks small. >> he does. willie is -- >> willie is a tall dude. >> he is a big man. tall guy. >> anyway that, is greet stuff. bill, let's get a check of the weather. west coast, we're finally getting what we need. we don't want a lot of devastation or anything. you desperately need it. first symptom move in yesterday. still raining in california this morning. storm number two coming in tomorrow. it will be bigger. i mean l.a. hasn't had one inch of rain from a storm in three years. that's a long time. this is going to be a significant event for you. and that's going to be tonight, tomorrow, two inches of rain. the mountains could see four to five feet of snow. that's exactly what they need. again, it's only going to dent. they need 15 inches to end the drought. they're going to probably get maybe a quarter to a fifth of. that the cold just continues. what a february. thank goodness this is almost over. minus 43 in international follows this morning. that's dangerous stuff. minus 10 in chicago. it's a lot colder in new england this morning than you felt the last couple mornings. wind chill of 4 in boston. 16 in d.c.

even new orleans has a wind chill of 29. so really everywhere east of the rockies it's still feeling like midwinter out there. and even with sunshine, a high of 6 today in chicago. that's it. new york about 30. the cold air from the midwest is in the northeast as we go into your friday. that will be coldest day of this arctic outbreak. then we'll have the storm in the west coast. it has to come across the country. it does look like another significant snow and ice storm. it's too early for snowfall amounts. we're talking snow likely on sunday. somewhere from kansas city north of st. louis, chicago, indianapolis, maybe cleveland, detroit, and then on monday up here into the northeast and mid-atlantic, thomas. >> man. >> after this, there is another cold shot next week. it's really going to be spring -- spring starts three weeks from today. >> right. >> it may be until like the first day of spring that we finally kick out of it. >> can't get here fast enough. stick around though. i need to show you something. >> all right. on "morning joe", new polls show the president and his party are not in good position for the

midterm elections. do the democrats have time to turn around? then when we come back, we're going to huddle around the water cooler. anything can happen in live television. and there's a certain weather report in california and a weather man there who had quite a memorable moment on live television. what happened to this meteorologyist? what freaked him out? we'll show you. predicting the future is a pretty difficult thing to do. but, manufacturing in the united states means advanced technology. we learned that technology allows us to be craft oriented. no one's losing their job. there's no beer robot that has suddenly chased them out. the technology is actually creating new jobs. siemens designed and built the right tools and resources to get the job done.

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at the top of the show we talked about the unrest in ukraine which is now spread to the region of crimea. tell your friends that crimea almost touches russia in the east. 60% of the people there are ethnic russian who's speak the native language. the region became part of ukraine after the soviet union collapsed in 1991 but it is considered autonomous. it is also the home of the russian black sea naval fleet. in case you missed it, justin bieber's latest video just dropped, it shows the pop star video after the dui arrest in miami. at first he takes some confident steps. but as he turns to head back, you can see the star wobble just a little bit. the orange sneakers. he stumbles along right. there we also found a little bit about the bieber's fitness regimen. yeah, during down time at the station, he gets in a quick workout doing some pushups. right there on the floor. good form.

that helps the explanation for bieber's great physique at his young age. he plead not guilty to three misdemeanor charges and driving with an expired license. now a toxicology report revealed bieber tested positive for marijuana and xanax but it was under the legal limit. however, he is an underaged drinker. actor seth rogan took an important message about increasing funding to researching alzheimer's disease to congress yesterday and he used comedy to try to help get his point across. >> first i should answer the question i assume many of you are asking, yes, i'm aware this has nothing to do with the legalization of marijuana. we recently started a college program that allows university students to hold their own hilarity for charity events and in the month since it started, 18 schools nationwide have signed up to hold events. the fact that we have college students to stop playing video games and volunteer their time is a huge accomplish. especially considering x box1 and play station 4 came out this

year. i'm sure these people know what i'm talking about. i came here today for a few reasons. one, i'm a huge "house of cards" fan. just marathon the whole thing. had to be here. two, is to say people need more help. >> "house of cards" man. so if you only watch "way too early," you may be under the impression that all meteorologists are just as incredible and talented and kind as our meteorologist bill karins and his standard. but look at this. >> bakersfield, 61. looking -- oh, my gosh. did you see that? sorry. there was a spider that fell. >> take it easy. >> i hate spiders, man. especially when you're bawled, you feel them crawling on your head. >> did you get it? >> i didn't see it. >> i apologize, sorry.

creeped out right now. i'm going to step over here. you look at the temperatures -- i'm not standing by that wall. all right. temperatures in the upper 70s. above normal weather here for us today. no records but -- >> that might have been a black widow. >> that just scares me. what shouldn't scare anybody is temperatures dropping down -- >> there it is! >> i apologize for all. that know rain is on the way after a gorgeous sunny afternoon. temperatures in the 7 o's. back to you. >> he crushed it. has anything like that ever happened you? >> bald people should be more afraid of spiders. that's what i just learned. >> if you feeling it creeping out on your head, i would flip my wig, too. >> i'd be more scared of him. >> he was a big dude, right? >> yeah. >> the spider never stood a chance. anything like that ever happen snou. >> i had a light drop from the ceiling three feet in front of me and shatter. >> how did you react? >> i didn't really have youtube back then, thankfully.

a little high pitched teenage voice. >> you have ever seen the meteorologist that finds the cockroach? >> no. youtube that one, everybody. that's a good one. >> we need pest control. >> as long as pita isn't watching this stuff. why you are awake? spiders climbing on your head? what is it? send us your tweets. "morning joe" is moments away. [ male announcer ] are you so stuffed up, you feel like you're underwater?

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welcome back, everybody. throw back thursday. we want to ask why you're awake now. we have the best tweets. >> we got one that said i'm awake because i'm a night person. it's the only time i can actually relax without having people bug me. >> okay. good reason. >> and then kerry said, the cat woke me up and wanted food. i ate left over valentines candy. >> you know what? we have this other cat tweet from michael who wrote restless cabin fever, bored, chimney climbing cat screaming in my face. please god, where is frank? we still have time to go.

cats are very popular. anyway that, is thursday edition of "way too early," thanks, gang. they all like my outfit, too. "morning joe" starts right now. >> all right. good morning, everybody. it's thursday. almost friday february 27th. welcome to "morning joe." with us on set, we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle. hi, mike. you look very nice today. >> thank you very much. >> the chair of deutch, incorporated, donny deutch. >> i'm not happy that thomas roberts stole my look. >> thomas looks good today. here comes thomas. look at that. just talking about the look, thomas. >> you're killing that suit, man. >> he has the walk of this floor, if it was lit up, he could do. >> i think it does, actually. >> wow! >> right up until that point.